Something Different

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CENTURIONCG.NET

School Teacher Turned Marine Officer Never Looked Back

Chuck Hatch is not a man that feels as if his country owes him anything, which it does. Instead, Hatch feels as if he’s a fortunate man because of his country.

Hatch reported to Quantico, Virginia, went through Officer’s Candidate School, earned his commission and was sent to Del Mar, Calif. His next stop was Da Nang, Vietnam.

“We live in a great country, and I’ve been very lucky,” Hatch said on a rainy morning at the Norman Veterans Center, where he still walks over three miles a day and lifts weights daily.

A graduate of Healdton High School and Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Hatch was teaching school in Coalgate before scratching an itch to do something else.

“I decided I wanted to go do something different, so I headed off to the Marine Corps,” Hatch said.

His first deployment was for 13 months, and he began in a tank with the 1st Marine Division. Hatch finished his deployment in an Amtrac LTV unit, which involved amphibious landing craft.

Hatch returned home, but he didn’t stay long, telling the Marine Corps that he wanted to go back to Vietnam and fly as an aerial observer. So, he was off to flight school to earn his wings. Next stop, the 3rd Marine Division where he flew for about 11 months before he got an opportunity to command a tank company for the remainder of his time in Vietnam.

“I think Vietnam, from each individual’s perspective, was a little different,” Hatch said about his experience in the war. “It’s hard to explain. It’s hard to communicate it with someone who wasn’t there. You don’t have a common starting point, if you will. I thought it was a just cause, and we were helping the Vietnamese people out. The political ramifications and all of the corruption and graft that you heard about, I don’t know. I was just out in a bush trying to stay alive. Everything else took a back seat. “The Marines were good to me. I tell young people, ‘it’s not for everybody,’” Hatch said. “It was good for me, but it’s not for everybody.”

After retiring in 1993, Hatch decided to pursue another dream.

“I bought a ranch south of Marlow and tried to become the next John Wayne,” he laughed. “I fell a little short of that, but I enjoyed it.”

“In my estimation, I was in hog heaven that I got to lead troops,” Hatch said. “A desk job is not all that exciting. I feel really fortunate to have been a part of it,” he said. “I saw some things I didn’t necessarily like seeing, but that kind of comes with the territory.”

Hatch would go on to command troops at almost every level of the Marine Corps. Starting out as platoon commander, he rose to captain, major, lieutenant colonel and eventually colonel. Along his service honors, Hutch earned the Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star with the Combat V, Purple Heart and many more.

“I don’t know whether it was luck, or someone had pity on me, but I’ve learned not to look a gift horse in the mouth,” Hatch said. “I’ve been very fortunate.”- 19SM

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